Ugly Courage
by lordbaelish
Summary: Karofsky doesn't just kiss Kurt in the Locker room.  And now, the glee club has to figure out why Kurt's ignoring them, and Blaine has to deal with his guilt for being the one who told Kurt to stand up for himself in the first place.  Klaine. M for rape
1. Chapter 1

**Karofsky doesn't just kiss Kurt in the Locker room. And now, the glee club has to figure out why Kurt's ignoring them, and Blaine has to deal with his guilt for being the one who told Kurt to stand up for himself in the first place. Klaine.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

**Ugly Courage**

All Kurt really remembered was the feel of the dirty locker room floor against his face, the rough hand pushing down on his mouth so hard his teeth hurt, and-

_Pain. Heavy Breathing. Take it, he said. Take it like a girl would, fag._

He expected broken ribs, black eyes, maybe some internal bleeding, even, but this-

_The click of Karofsky locking the door. The insanity in his eyes. Rage. Pain._

This was not what he expected.

_Take it, you little faggot. I bet this feels good, don't it?_

At first, he thought it was out of spite. Mostly, he still did think that-

_You look so tight in those little glee club outfits. Don't think I'm the only one that noticed, soprano._

But a little part of it must've been actual lust. Which means it could happen again. And- and Karofsky said he wasn't the only one who noticed, so that meant-

_faggot_

Kurt had sat in that locker room for hours after Karofsky left, with the door locked.

After hours, he unwrapped his arms from around his knees and stood.

Kurt let out a sharp cry as he moved. The pain was the only thing that made him sure this had actually just happened, and it wasn't just a really fucked up nightmare.

Carefully, he took off his clothes, and left them folded on the bench, before stepping into a hot shower, letting the water run all the sweat and other...fluids off his body. He stared at the drain, where a blood red substance swirled down the drain. He had been bleeding.

Stepping out of the shower only because the water was freezing, Kurt dried off and got dressed slowly. All the showers in the world couldn't make him feel clean again.

He tried to fix himself up in the mirror, but his hair stayed messy and his clothes just weren't about to uncrumple themselves.

Calmly, he put his bag on his shoulder and unlocked the door, leaving the locker room, walking down the hall to glee club stiffly and in pain.

When he entered the room, Mr. Schue put his disappointed face on.

Finn, and most of the other club members, turned to greet him, "I thought you left early or something, man, you weren't at lunch."

"Kurt, you're late," He said, a little bit reprimanding but mostly upbeat, like usual.

Surprisingly enough, Brittany was the first to notice his unkempt appearance, "Kurt? You look kind of, like, not put together. You okay?"

The others raised questioning eyebrows when they finally took in his ruffled hair and dirty clothes.

Kurt opened his mouth, but found it extremely dry, and only let out an odd sounding squeak. And then it was like he was back in the locker room, with Karofsky telling him, saying that-

_Those little glee club outfits._

"I'm sorry Mr. Schuester," His voice didn't sound melodic. It sounded cracked. Broken. _Ugly. _"I'm afraid that I no longer wish to participate in New Directions glee club."

"What?" Rachel stood fast, along with the others "You know we need you, Kurt-"

_I need you so bad right now_

"You're one of our best sopranos-"

_Don't think I'm the only one that noticed, soprano_

"She's right, Kurt," Finn said, "And we still need twelve people, without you we're short. Again. And the whole people-quitting-every-two-minutes thing- I don't know if our group can take it anymore- "

_take it, faggot. Take it like a girl. That's how you want it, right, princess?_

"SHUT UP!" Kurt shrieked, covering his ears with his hands and grabbing fistfuls of his hair. He felt his eyes burning with tears, "EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

There was silence in which the entire club stared, eyes wide like Ms. Pillsbury, at him. Mr. Schue hesitated, "Kurt...?"

"I just- can't be in glee club anymore," He said, and his voice cracked grossly somewhere in the middle of that.

"What happened?" It was Sam talking, in all his lemonheaded glory, that made him burst into tears. "Why- why is your face all bruised? Kurt, who did that to you?"

Not dainty tears, like he usually cried, but gross, snotty, blotchy-skinned sobs. He dropped his bag and collapsed on the floor.

Will Schuester started forward, alarmed, "Kurt!"

He put his hand on the boys arm gently, and Kurt let out a scream and scrambled backwards before grabbing his bag and hastily standing.

"I- I have to go," He rushed for the exit, pausing briefly to murmur, "Goodbye," before leaving, tearing down the halls.

He had had the courage to stand up for himself.

Just not the strength to back it up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.**

**Ugly Courage**

Sore throat, he had told his father. Then he didn't have to talk at all.

Earlier today, he had tried to sing scales. He didn't make it to a high C before breaking down. Singing just wasn't enjoyable, now. It was so gray.

He was still in one of those perpetual cry-at-everything moods (with much good reason) and when Blaine had texted him the day _it _ happened, he had spent hours in his room sobbing and dry heaving, disgusted with himself.

Blaine had simply asked, _'how'd it go with the neaderthal?' _and Kurt had ran to the bathroom and puked up what little food he had managed to swallow that night at dinner. Blaine would be so ashamed of him.

He hadn't been able to stand up, or run.

He was such a...a failure.

Now, though, he was back in school. He had donned a simple pair of slightly skinny and a normal fitting t-shirt. A little under dressed, compared to his usual, but it would probably be better if he toned down on the...flamboyancy for a while.

_Don't think I'm the only one who noticed_

Kurt felt his eyes smart again and sunk lower into his seat in the cafeteria. His stomach churned as he pushed the nasty cafeteria food back and forth on his tray. His entire body just felt so...dirty. And not in the good way, like Touch-A Touch-A Touch Me. He felt so violated. And it was all his fault.

He shouldn't of pushed Karofsky like that.

_Hit me. It won't beat the gay out of me._

He had practically been begging to be assaulted.

"Kurt."

The soprano inhaled sharply, jumping in his seat and banging his elbow on the table by accident.

"Woah, calm down man," Sam sat down across from him, Finn on his left and Rachel on his right. "We just wanna talk. Why did you quit New Directions?"

Kurt cleared his throat primly, "Singing's just not...something I want to do anymore."

"Kurt, you've been working at this your whole life!" Rachel said, leaning towards him. Kurt drew away from her, only to bump Finn accidentally and flinch, "I know what that's like, Kurt, and it's not something you just decide you 'don't want to do anymore'. To sing as passionately as you or I do you have to love it, Kurt. You don't just stop wanting it."

"Then maybe I don't love it like you do," Kurt straightened his messy hair habitually, "Maybe I'm not as dedicated or as good as you are Rachel."

"Is that was this is about? Not being good enough?" Finn asked, "Because you're amazing, Kurt-"

_you're amazing, for a homo. So fucking tight_

"NO!" Kurt said forcefully, "It's not that. I just want to stop singing. And I want you to leave me alone."

"Kurt-"

"All of you!" Kurt snapped, "Tell the entire club that I'm severing ties because it's 'bad for my rep'" He looked at Finn, "Or because something better came along," This was directed towards Rachel, "I really couldn't care less as long as _everyone _from glee leaves me alone. For good."

Kurt left in a huff, leaving behind three confused and shocked teens.

"He specifically said he wanted everyone from glee to leave him alone?" Mercedes asked Finn again.

Finn, Rachel, and Sam had called an emergency glee meeting with everyone to discuss this.

"That doesn't sound like Kurt," Santana said, examining her nails, "Even though he quit, he's still least likely to want to sever ties with us. I mean, we all have some friends outside of glee, or family or something. He's just got his sick dad."

"I just don't get it," Will said. "I did try and talk to him about the bullying situation, but I don't see how that would make him want to quit glee."

"We all get slushied," Finn said, "Even Sam got slushied after a few days."

Quinn scoffed and everyone turned to her, "Please, Finn, none of _us _suffer abuse like Kurt does." At his look, she continued, "You might be on glee now, but you _were_ quarterback once, and that gives you some leeway. Kurt's daily schedule pretty much consists of getting thrown into dumpsters, getting slurs yelled at his back, getting punched into the lockers by Karofsky, and no one doing a damn thing to help him. Oh, and your slightly homophobic tendencies and constant rejection."

"I'm _not _homophobic," Finn said, "And what do you want me to do, pretend to love the guy?"

"Finn, you didn't just reject him, you made him reject you. And Sam. And pretty much everyone else, too," She pointed out.

"I did not."

Sam interjected, "You kinda did, man. You told him that everyone who was friends with him was gonna get their already bad reputations made even worse. And that I'd get the crap beaten out of me for singing that duet with him."

"You said what now?" Mercedes snapped.

Everyone dissolved into a few minutes of fighting before Schuester finally broke it up.

"Listen, guys, someone just figure out what happened, and we'll have good old shameless Kurt back," He reasoned.

There was a murmured assent before everyone dispersed.

When they were gone, Will sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, "What's going on with you, Kurt?"

Unfortunately, Kurt wasn't there to answer.

Azimio and Karofsky had Kurt cornered in the stairwell.

"You little gay freak," Azimio spat, "No one's ever gonna want you."

"Yeah," Karofsky said eloquently. Obviously, he hadn't gone bragging about what he had done.

Kurt swallowed as the both advanced, staring at his attacker in absolute fear, before bursting into loud, uncontrollable sobs.

"St-st-stay away fr-from me!" He stuttered, scrounging for anything he could use to get them to back off. Apparently, the tears and snot were enough, as both boys backed up significantly.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Schuester called from down the hall.

Amizio started in the other direction, "C'mon, man, let's get out of here."

By the time Mr. Schuester got there the harassers were long gone and Kurt had backed himself into a corner, curling up so his knees were against his chest and he had his arms wrapped around them in a self-defensive manner.

"Oh my god, Kurt..." Will reached out a hand for the boy, but Kurt pushed himself up against the wall even further.

"Don't," Kurt said sharply, staring at his hand like it was about to grow a head and bite Kurt's face off. Softly, he said, "Please don't touch me. Just...stop."

Schue drew his hand back slowly. He was starting to get an idea of why Kurt quit glee, "Alright. Alright, Kurt, I'm going to get help. Stay right here."

Ten minutes later, when he returned with the school nurse, Kurt was nowhere to be found.

Sam and Finn entered the locker room together after working out.

"Ah, gross," Finn cursed, "Someone's blood is all over the floor. No one's been in here since yesterday, and it's all dry. Who got hurt yesterday?"

"No one, I don't think," Sam answered, stepping around the dried out red substance. On the bench he saw a perfectly folded bowtie, "Is this Kurt's?"

Sam held up the piece of clothing and Finn snatched it, "Yeah, I think it is. What was he doing in the locker room?"

They both shrugged if off, saying they'd return the tie later with an excuse to talk to Kurt, when in hit Sam.

Dried blood.

Who had been hurt yesterday?

The tie.

"Oh no."

**this was still really upsetting, but way longer. I promise Blaine soon! Lot's and lot's of Klaine angst and fluff. Angst fluff.**

**BTW – using 'Kurt' and 'him' as the only way to tell you lovely readers who I'm talking about it kinda redundant. Any other good names to describe or flamboyant friend.**

**Other BTW – I made a Klaine community. You should subscribe.**

**And, I beg of you, review. Please.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay new chapter!**

**You are all amazing reviewers, and I'm totally mind blown by your copious amounts of awesome**

**thanks to SailorPotterheadPsychoGleek for "the normally confident and infinitely fashionable boy" which is awesome**

**and now, the chapter...**

**Ugly Courage**

"If we get caught doing this, I'm blaming you two and running."

"Whatever, Puck, just do it," Finn snapped, annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm doing it," The self-proclaimed badass grumbled.

Sam and Finn watched anxiously as Puck played with the tapes of the school's cameras.

"When do you want, and where?" He asked.

"Last week," Sam said, "In the locker room sometime before glee."

"Well," Puck said, rewinding the tapes, "There's no camera in the locker room, but there's one that's aimed at the door."

"Yeah, go to that one."

Finally it stopped rewinding and they watched as Dave Karofsky entered the locker room in his usual angry fashion. A few seconds later, they watched Kurt run in after him, shouting something at the beefy hockey player.

"So princess finally stood up for himself," Puck said with his eyebrows raised. Nothing happened for a while, but after about a minute someone else approached the locker room door and tried to get in, but the handle wouldn't turn. It was obvious that the door had been locked.

"That can't be good," Sam muttered. Puck fast forwarded until the door opened and Karofsky came out of the room, looking extremely nervous as he glanced around the hallway before running.

They waited for a while, but Puck fast forwarded at least two hours worth of the tape before Kurt finally exited the room, looking red-eyed and stiff.

"So, Karofsky spent a half an hour locked in the locker room with Kurt, and Kurt didn't leave until like two hours after whatever happened had gone down," Puck concluded.

"What, though," Finn wondered, "What did Karofsky do to him?"

"He must've beat him up even worse than usual," Sam analyzed, "And he must have said something that really bothered Kurt, that made Kurt quit New Directions."

"What are we gonna do about it?" Puck asked, and the question lingered in the air for a minute before the silence was interrupted by Sam's phone ringing.

He checked the caller ID, but didn't know the number.

"Hello?" He said into the phone.

"Sam?" A familiar voice asked, "Sam, it's Blaine."

Sam and Blaine had been lab partners in chemistry the year before. He was a nice guy and they got along fine, but they had never been out-of-school friends.

"Blaine?" He asked, "Chemistry Blaine? What's up?"

"Look, you go to McKinley now, right?"

"Yeah..." Sam answered slowly.

Blaine sounded nervous, "Do you know Kurt Hummel? He left a message on my phone, and he sounded really...bad."

"Why would Kurt leave a message on your phone? How do you even know him?" Sam asked, and Finn and Puck both turned towards him, now interested in the conversation.

"Well, Kurt came to Dalton to spy on The Warblers a while ago, and we're sort of...friends, now, I guess," Blaine answered, "So you know him?"

"I'm in glee club with him," Sam answered and Blaine was silent.

"You joined their glee club?" He sounded robbed, "I couldn't get you anywhere near The Warblers!"

"Er...that's not the point, the point is something is up with Kurt," Sam said awkwardly, "And it has to do with Dave Karofsky."

"The neanderthal that's been harassing him?" Blaine asked, "Kurt said he was going to stand up for himself."

"He did, last week," Sam said dryly, "And now he won't let anyone near him and he's quit glee."

Blaine was silent, "I'm coming to your school."

"Don't bother now, come tomorrow," Sam told the boy, deciding not to stop him from coming. They could use all the help they could get with this.

(PAGEBREAK)

Will Schuester was a good man.

A little over dramatic, yes, but a good man.

Unfortunately, he felt like the world's biggest douche right now.

However, he knew it was necessary for him to be a douche at the moment.

"Kurt, you missed the last three days of school unexcused," He told the cowering boy before him. "Now, you could be suspended," Lie, "For about a week," Lie, "When I tell Figgins. I'll also be calling your father," Lie, "So he can handle this."

"Mr. Schue, please don't call my dad," Kurt begged quietly, not looking him in the eyes.

"Your father has to be informed of your suspension."

"What- I'll do anything for you not to tell Figgins, just have him overlook it or- or something! Please!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Kurt-"

"I'll rejoin New Directions!" Kurt blurted out, instantly regretting it.

Will hid his smile, this was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

"Well...we do need our twelfth person," He pretended to consider, "Alright, but no more skipping school. And I expect you at every glee meeting on time, okay?"

"Okay," Kurt left the room miserably. Will felt a little bit bad, but mostly he felt like he had done the right thing. He hoped, anyway.

(PAGEBREAK)

"Karofsky!" Sam shouted down the hall, gaining the attention of Dave, Azimio, and several bystanders.

He hurried down the hall, Matt, Mike, Puck, Artie, and Finn behind him. They had made Puck promise to stay in the background if a fight broke out, so he wouldn't get sent back to juvy.

"What do you want, lemon head?" The beefy teen sneered.

Sam stopped a few feet in front of him, "We know what you did to Kurt."

Karofsky's tough expression faltered, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Finn spat, stepping up, "We know you beat him up in the locker rooms, and we want you to stay away from him, you hear?"

"Back off Kurt, indefinitely," Mike added violently.

Dave's tough expression came back when he realized that, no, they had no idea what he had done to Kurt, "You think I beat him up in the lockers?"

"We _know _you did," Puck told him.

Karofsky chuckled, "Oh, I did much more than that..."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Artie asked, angry and confused.

Dave just smirked and waltzed away like nothing had even happened

Finn shifted uncomfortably, "Does anyone else feel like we might have just made everything worse?"

**a/n- reviewwww, my lovelies! (wow, that was mega creepy)**

**anyway...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay new chapter**

**who else though Baby It's Cold Outside was ADORABLE?**

**Everyone noticed Blaine stare at Kurt's lips right? RIGHT?**

**Oh, and about Schuester and his manipulation of Kurt, well, remember how he got Finn to join?**

**Btdubs, I've hit over 100 reviews.**

**Do you know what that means?**

**LONG CHAPTER WITH LOTS OF BLAINE WOOOO!**

**Ugly Courage**

Blaine's hands tightened on the steering wheel as he sped down the highway.

This was all his fault.

He jerked his car to pass a honking mini van at ridiculously illegal speeds.

This was _all his fault._

_He _had been the one to tell Kurt to stick up for himself. Skinny little Kurt, beefy neanderthal Karofsky.

Blaine scoffed, stupid, stupid, stupid.

He played the voicemail Kurt had left on his phone over in his head for the thousandth time.

_'Hey, Blaine, it's Kurt...Thanks for the advice...it went (sniffle) swimmingly. I'llseeyouatsectionalsbye,'_

And that was it.

'I'll see you at sectionals bye.'

That had been the giveaway, really. Kurt was obviously very dramatic, and, Blaine had thought Kurt was a little interested in the Dalton boy.

Not to be egotistical, of course, but Kurt had definitely had a small (not one-sided) crush on him. The kind you get after talking with someone for a few hours.

And then 'I'll see you at sectionals bye'?

It made no sense. Obviously, something had gone down and it was ALL HIS FAULT!

"DAMN!" Blaine shouted to the empty car, smacking the dashboard with his palm.

He let his anger out as he pulled into McKinley High School's parking lot, scanning the crowds for the familiar dark haired head of Sam Evans.

Blaine got out of his car and looked around before his eyes landed on Sam and widened. Sam was _blonde._

"Hey Blaine!" He called over the shorter boy who approached the group of Gleeks quickly and suavely.

"Hello," He smiled at them all, and tried not to chuckle at Sam, "Hey, Sam..."

"Shut up," Sam said, pouting.

"Sorry," Blaine did let out a laugh, "It's just...you're blonde."

"Shut up," Sam repeated.

"Wait, Evans isn't a natural blonde?" Puck snorted.

Santana rolled her eyes, "You didn't know that?"

Everyone bickered for a second before Sam stopped them, "We're not here to discuss my lemonhead! We're here to talk about Kurt!"

"You're right," Blaine nodded. "Where is he?"

"In lunch," Mercedes told him, jerking her head towards the cafeteria.

Puck scowled, "He won't freaking talk to any of us."

"And he's wearing a sweatshirt," Rachel pointed out, "A _sweatshirt."_

"All we know is that he and Karofsky were locked in the boys locker room for about an hour, Karofsky left, then Kurt left two hours after, and that's when things got weird," Finn said.

"You don't think...?" Blaine trailed off thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Never mind," Blaine shook his head. There was no way, "I'll talk to him."

"I think he's in the bathroom," Quinn told him, "I'll show you which one. He doesn't eat lunch anymore, he just locks himself in there. Puckerman, you come too, someone will have to pick the lock."

"Got it," The mohawked teen said, and the three of them started to walk together.

"Look, Dwayne-"

"Blaine." He corrected.

"Blaine," Puck said, "I need you to tell me exactly what Kurt says in there, so I know exactly how much crap to kick out of Karofsky."

Before Blaine could open his mouth, Quinn cut in, "Noah, you'll get sent back to juvie if you do that."

"Depends on what exactly he did to Kurt," Puck grumbled.

They were quiet as they walked until Blaine said, "So...you can pick locks and you went to juvie?"

"He tried to steal an ATM," Quinn said.

Blaine raised an eyebrow and Puck growled, "Don't judge me, prep boy."

Quinn gave Puck a hairpin and soon the door was unlocked, and Blaine slipped into the room quietly.

Kurt jumped and turned when the door clicked shut.

His face was caked with tears and he was in a baggy sweatshirt and worn out jeans.

"Blaine," He squeaked.

"Hey Kurt," Blaine put his hand in his pocket and leaned against the wall, "You ignored my texts."

"Yeah...well, you know, we're competition and all," Kurt supplied weakly, "You should hear what Vocal Adrenaline did to Rachel Berry. She's the short annoying one, if you ran into her."

He sighed. This was going no where, "Kurt, what happened with Karof-"

"Don't say his name," Kurt cut in.

Blaine blinked, surprised, "Okay...but what did K-_he _do?"

Kurt stared at him like a deer in the headlights before sliding down the wall onto the floor and burying his face in his hands. Blaine was at his side in a split second, putting a comforting arm around his shoulder.

For the first time in weeks, Kurt allowed himself to lean into the touch of another person, instead of push it away.

"I..I couldn't tell anyone, I can't, he'll...he'll k-kill me," Kurt sobbed into the Dalton uniform jacket that he had pathetically tried to imitate. "My d-dad knows some-something happened, but I can't tell him! He's s-so s-sick, I can't lose him t-too!"

"Kurt," Blaine said seriously, "Karofsky, did he..."

Kurt sobbing increased along with Blaine's fear.

He had a very good idea of what had happened, he thought with a scowl as several Glee members burst into the room, not able to handle just listening at the door.

Blaine handed off the crying Kurt onto Mercedes and Quinn's shoulders, shrugging out of his tear-soaked blazer.

Finn pulled him aside, "Do you, did you find out what happened?"

"I know _exactly _what happened," Blaine spat.

He hadn't been unable to control his emotions like this since he was a preteen, he noted as he stormed out the door, but this instance was totally worth ruining his clean slate.

He stormed out of the bathroom, and most of the Glee guys as well as Santana and Brittany followed him. Quinn, Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina stayed behind with Kurt.

"What's going on, what happened to Kurt?" Brittany asked him, but Blaine ignored her question.

He spotted a group of boys in sports uniforms at the end of the hall way.

"Which one's Karofsky?" He demanded.

Artie pointed out the buff hockey player. Who was leaning against the lockers looking totally carefree.

Blaine pushed his way through several other muscular, taller guys and (ignoring the loud protests and warnings from New Directions) punched Karofsky in the face.

"What the hell?" Dave Karofsky shouted, the hall having gone silent.

Blaine shoved him, "You know what you did to Kurt, you creepy sick minded _rapist!"_

Later on, this would be the only thing Blaine regretted about the fight. He really hadn't meant for the whole school to know about Kurt's situation, he just shouted it in a fit of anger.

And when he did, that's when the shit hit the fan.

Dead silence, at first.

Then, Azimio laughed, and Puck smashed his fist into the kid's face, shouting, "This isn't funny, you douche bag!"

Blaine and Karofsky wailed on each other relentlessly and their friends began to riot too.

Some kid tipped Artie's wheel chair over, and before Mike had a chance to beat the kid up, Brittany had leaped forward, scratching at him until he pushed her off of him violently causing Santana to jump on his back and attempt to strangle him and Artie punched him in the balls as Mike helped him off the floor.

"Get Schuester! Get Principal Figgins!" Mike told him, pushing Artie's chair away before jumping into the fracas.

At this point, Azimio had Blaine's arms held behind him while Karofsky punched him repeatedly before Sam tackled Dave and Mike took out Azimio.

Some how, he ended up surrounded by jocks at all angles, with Puck and Finn on either side of him, and he didn't even know who he was hitting, but it felt _really. Damn. Good._

Blaine broke out, gasping in deep breaths, but was knocked onto the floor by Santana and another Cheerio, one of the jocks girlfriends, when Santana grabbed the girls head and bashed it against the wall before tackling her to the ground.

That's when he noticed he was looking into the eyes of a man who could only be a teacher.

Blaine sighed as the rioting slowly stopped when a crazy blonde teacher and a red head, as well as the man, all starting shouting and tearing kids apart.

This was all his fault.

**A/N- how was it?**

**My favorite part was the riot. I've been waiting to write that this entire time, it was the best. I loved Santana beatin on the Cheerio, and I wish I got Mercedes in there, but there's no way she would've left Kurt when he was crying like that.**

**So, only a few chapters left, I think, woo, so exciting!**

**Anyway, review, tell me what you favorite part of the riot was!**

**PLEASE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sigh...I'm on canon!Klaine withdrawal. I've watched the Klaine moments in the few episodes they were in like 6000 times and I NEED MORE RAHHHH Blaine MUST be in the next Feb episode.**

**Here we go...**

**Ugly Courage**

The entire group of students sat in the choir room, shuffling their feet awkwardly and not making eye contact with anyone. Mercedes, Rachel, Tina, and Quinn had taken Kurt to the nurse, so he wouldn't have to be here when they were yelled at. Technically, they had no part in the riot anyway.

Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schuester were talking in hushed tones in the doorway, and then Coach Sue stormed into the classroom furiously.

"What is wrong with you little monsters?" She shouted at them, and Puck could clearly picture streams of smoke rising out of her ears. "Not only did you start the biggest riot McKinley has ever seen, but the hallways are going to be stained with blood for weeks! Someone ought to write an apology to the janitor!"

Blaine blinked as the woman ranted on. She really was kind of...odd.

"And now Lady Face is all upset because you guys were shouting about _rape _in the hall?" She took a deep breath. "Someone explain to me what happened, NOW!"

Azimio stood up, "It's simple, Coach. Gay- er, Prep Boy over there and his band of merry losers came up to us in the hallway, said some shit about Dave _raping _Fairy and then Puckerman attacked me, and everyone started beating on each other."

"You," Sue pointed at Blaine, her eyes going to his face, his uniform, before landing on his hair, "Are you the cause of this mess, Curly?"

"My name is Blaine, I go to Dalton Academy for Boys," He held out his hand for her to shake, but she refused.

"I don't shake hands with men who moisturize with hair gel."

"What?"

"I'm telling you to go shave that chia pet off your head, Dalton Boy," Sue sneered and Blaine gave her a weird look before continuing.

"Well...I guess that, uh, completely irrelevant," Blaine said, caught off guard, "But Kurt told me...something, that, well, can be discussed in private later, and I freaked out. Like, _freaked_ out, I was, _am_ really pissed off."

"With good reason," Finn scowled, holding a hand to his right shoulder, where his shirt was stained with blood.

Blaine nodded his thanks to Finn before taking a calming breath, "That's pretty much what happened."

Mr Schue ran a tired hand over his face, "Guys this is serious, _lawsuit _serious, in fact. You'll be lucky if no one on the football team presses charges. Especially you, Puck."

"You can forget about that, then, Glee boys," Azimio sneered.

"I'm down with anything you guys charge us with, as long as Kurt charges Karofsky with everything _he _deserves," Puck said easily, slouching into his seat in a rather frightening manner, glaring at the previously mentioned jock.

"Mr. Schuester, Coach Sue," A voice from the doorway said. Everyone looked over to see a rumpled and blotchy faced Kurt looking like a frightened rabbit in the doorway, "Maybe I could talk to you two in Principal Figgins office? There are some cops in there, too, and I think it'd be good for you to get the whole story before anyone gets in trouble...They said to, um, bring K-Karofsky too."

"Alright, Ladyface," Sue stood and left the room, following Kurt, "Come on Beefy, you too."

Karofsky trailed after her looking a little bit green.

"Emma, watch the kids, okay?" Will Schuester didn't wait for a reply and the timid redhead clenched her fists and stared at the group of teens, who were all viciously glaring at each other as if their hatred would cause the others to light on fire.

Emma let out a whoosh of air. "Oh my."

"I do not understand what is going on here," Principal Figgins paced in front of his desk. "What has become of my school and students, when did we erach the point where we need to call the police instead of settling this _nicely?"_

"When students began inflicting serious pain on other students," Coach Sue sneered at Karofsky, "I'm the resident _pain inflicter, _you little weasel, and don't you forget it."

"I didn't do anything," Dave Karofsky glared menacingly at the smaller teen in the room. "Isn't that right, fairy?"

"Hey," The cop pointed his ball point pen at Karofsky's chest and then scribbled something down on his notepad, "I'd watch your words carefully, boy. It's all on record now."

Karofsky kicked the floor in anger and slouched down into his seat.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sue shouted after a short silence.

"Both boys fathers are on their way," The officer told her, "They should be here any minute."

Surprisingly, it was Kurt who protested to that, "No! We don't have to get my dad involved!"

"Kid, if the police have to get involved, parents have to get involved," Officer Donovan said, "'Sides, you ain't in any trouble."

"You don't understand- my dad's _sick-"_

"Yet, here I am," Burt entered the room with a mean look on his face. He was confused as to what was going on, but doing a good job of covering it up with his anger, "Now what is going on, Kurt?"

At that moment, Mr. Karofsky entered the room in a tan colored suit, briefcase in hand. He looked flushed and out of breath. Other parents were with him too, and Mr. Schuester decided to explain to them what he knew, and led the others to their children in the choir room.

Officer Donovan, the two Hummels and two Karofskys, Coach Sue, and Principal Figgins sat in a short awkward silence before the officer cleared his throat.

"Y'all ready to get this over with, then?" He said in his Texas drawl.

"Where should we start?" Kurt muttered.

Officer Donovan smiled encouragingly at him, "The beginning's generally a good place."

Kurt smiled weakly and took a deep breath, "Kar-Karofsky, er, Dave, likes to pick on people. Especially me, because of my...sexual preferences. Then, the other day he pushed me into the locker bank and I just, uh, snapped, and chased after him into the locker room. And we were yelling at each other and then..."

Kurt's throat closed up and he brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arm around his legs and resting his head on them.

"You can skip this part, son, if need be," Donovan told him, "We can touch back on the 'locker room incident' in a more private settin' later, sound good?"

Kurt nodded, "Then I didn't tell anyone about the locker room thing, and some of the things he," his eyes flickered to Dave, "said frightened me, and I had trouble paying attention in classes and stuff. I was failing a lot of things and I quit New Directions, the school glee club. That's when the other glee members started getting worried, and they kept bugging me about it, and then Blaine- he goes to Dalton Academy- showed up and figured out the locker room...thing...and then he and the other glee guys – as well as Santana and Britt, I think – went and confronted them for me."

Officer Donovan scribbled one last thing down on his notepad and stood, "I think that's all we'll need for the basics, but this kinda situation calls for further investigation. It'll be easier on all of us if we head down to the police station and work through this all. I need to hear both sides o' the story, and I can get another officer to work with Dave while Kurt explains the locker room incident in more detail."

Kurt flinched noticeably.

"There's a girl at the station who has a degree in psychology," Donovan told him, "She's a lot better at talkin' to people than lil' ol' me, so we can set you up to speak with her. It will all be recorded, but it might help you explain things a bit better."

Kurt nodded uncertainly, knowing he really didn't have much of a choice. As soon as his dad found out, laying low and _not _pressing charges wouldn't be an option. Not that Kurt really wanted Dave Karofsky to get off scott-free, but he also didn't want to have to go through all of the legal issues.

"Well, let's all head over to the station, then."

Kurt took a deep breath and stood.

He could do this.

Silence.

Then Finn: "I know I just punched, like, four guys faces in, and I know the _general _reason I did it, but I'm not really clear on the details...someone want to explain?"

All eyes in the room turned to Blaine (including Mercedes, Tina, Rachel, and Quinn, who hadn't been allowed to accompany Kurt to the principal's and came back here), who shrank back into his seat at the sudden onslaught of teenagers looking at him expectantly. It was then he decided to never, ever become a teacher.

"Well," Blaine struggled to find the right words for this explanation, "What I shouted in the hallway is true, but if you didn't pick up on it I don't want to say anymore. This is between Kurt and that neanderthal."

Mercedes stood, cocking a hip and putting on her fierce face, "It _may_ have been between Kurt and Karofsky, but you made it into something bigger. It's between gleeks and jocks now, hun, so you better explain."

"I can't do that, Mercedes," Blaine said, tapping a beat on his thighs nervously, "It's really not my place."

"If that's not your place, then it wasn't you place to start a freakin' riot, either," Puck told him nonchalantly.

Blaine nodded, "It wasn't my place, it was Kurt's. I let my anger get the best of me, and I don't regret it, because Kurt never would have done it. He's not the type for violence."

"Neither are you," Sam reminded him quietly. It was the first thing he had said in a while.

The Dalton vocalist looked to his lap, then back to his old lab partner, "I know."

Silence reigned again.

After a few minutes, Mr. Schuester entered with a few parents.

Finn's mother was the first to enter. She gasped and rushed towards her son, reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder, but he flinched away. More parents spilled into the room, and one of them, outraged, shouted, "What are they all doing in here, bleeding all over the floor, these kids should be at the hospital!"

A chorus of agreements from the parents sounded, as well as groans from the kids. Blaine watched everyone argue and explain and yell at each other for a good twenty minutes, when he saw his mother enter and stood, making his way over to her.

"Oh dear," She said, looking around the room, "What _have _you gotten yourself into?"

He shrugged silently, looking around at the fracas, and couldn't help but wonder the same exact thing.

**A/N – MERRY CHRISTMAS and other holidays you all celebrate! WOOT WOOT! Sorta sad chapter, but it's starting to resolve things.**

**This chapter is pretty much it. There's either going to be one more chapter and an epilogue, or just an epilogue, so if you have anything you _really really REALLY _want to happen, tell me now and I'll consider it when I'm writing the next chapter!**

**As always, your reviews are appreciated and I'll try to respond if you leave something witty or have a question!**


	6. Chapter 6

****

**My brain has been completely out of order ever since Blaine grew balls and KISSED KURT OMGOMGOMG *brain oozes out of ears***

***coughs awkwardly***

**hey, guys how's it going? How's life? Please don't kill me. It just wasn't working.**

**I wrote and rewrote and rerewrote this chapter about eleven times, but it just never worked, and now I end up fairly satisfied with this mediocre chapter.**

**Still, hope you enjoy it**

**Disclaimer (can't remember if I already did this or not...) I don't own glee.**

**Ugly Courage**

Kurt stared down at the newspaper in pure horror.

There, on the front page, was an article detailing how a member of McKinley's football team had been arrested for sexually assaulting the school's "lone homosexual". They hadn't used names, since both he and Karofsky were underage, but as the article continued to describe the situation in further detail, it became increasingly obvious who they were talking about.

The only good thing about it was that it didn't put him in a bad light for being gay. Sure, he wouldn't call it a good perspective on him, but there was no bashing in it which was a nice change from the usual.

Still, though, he would have rather that this whole thing had been nothing, but rumors in the halls and pitying side glances. Maybe even some insults from non-believers. _Anything_ but a newspaper article. These things were kept on record in the public library, and when he grew up to be famous he didn't want his career to be based on his sob story, he wanted it to be based on his awesomeness. Which was abundant.

It had been five weeks since the riot at school, and he had been holed up on his room practically the entire time, excluding trips to the police station, the lawyer, the psychiatrist his dad was making him see...Blaine and the New Directions kids visited him everyday. Well, Blaine on weekends since he lived kinda far away and he did have to continue attending Dalton.

His psychiatrist, Richie, was who he spent three hours three times a week with. He was a young guy, around twenty five, and had moved to a town about forty minutes away from Lima from New York City. Kurt was amazed at this, after all, who would want to leave New York for Ohio?

It turns out that Richie's _boyfriend_ owns a car repair shop in Findlay, where Kurt went for his sessions, and Richie had moved out here after his _boyfriend_ proposed. Richie says that their hearts are married, even if the government doesn't recognize it as a real wedding. It was the most romantic thing Kurt had ever heard.

No matter how much he _loved_ to complain about going to see Richie, he actually really enjoyed it. His new psychiatrist was the perfect role model for him. And he thinks it was actually helping, too. Yes, he would probably be completely fucked up for the rest of his life, but Richie was making him a _little_ bit more normal, so that one day he would be able to be in functional relationship. Sometimes, during his sessions, he would just map out his future, write a story about what could happen.

He imagined that tall handsome stranger, the cute best friend, the troubled loner, and his personal favorite: The dapper school rival, who Kurt had taken to calling _Blaise_ in his fantasies. These fantasies were purely chaste, though, and he refused to even imagine anything sexual. Richie had told him that his hand-holding dream was 'progress'.

Still, though, Kurt felt like he would end up alone because of he was now, officially, 'damaged goods'. Maybe one day he would find his not-so-fictional Blaise and fall in love, real love, and then he'd be able to-

"Kurt!" His dad knocked on the door to his room, and he flushed, embarrassed as if his father could hear his teengirl fantasies.

"Come in, dad," His voice sounded better now, and he was talking more again. With the support of his friends and dad, and Blaine _not_ hating him for being a weakling, he had even started to sing again.

Oh, and the anti-depressants helped. A lot. But he wouldn't need them forever.

His dad bustled into his room, laying a hand on his shoulder and ignoring the very subtle flinch Kurt gave, and the apologetic look that was shot at him after. He led Kurt out of the room and onto the stairs.

"Dad, what's going on?" Kurt glared at his father suspiciously. Burt Hummel wasn't being very good at hiding the fact that a surprise was definitely about to take place.

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, everything became clear.

"_I backed my car into a cop car the other day_

_but he just drove off, sometimes life's okay," _Puck, of course, sang this line to him.

Finn walked up to him next, _"I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh what did I say?_

_Well you just laughed it off it was all okay."_

The rest of the Glee club (and Blaine, Kurt noticed with, well, glee) joined in with a serious of 'doo's' and other a capella noises that would have been guitar and other instruments, had they had a band in his house.

All of his closest friends sand the chorus together, harmonizing perfectly and showing the amount of effort they put into this show for him.

"_And we'll all float on, okay_

_and we'll all float on okay_

_and we'll all float on, okay_

_and we'll all float on anyway."_

Kurt laughed as Rachel and Quinn sang to him, "_A fake Jamaican took every last dime with a scam.  
It was worth it just to learn some sleight-of-hand."_

Blaine was next, apparently, and he smiled bopping his head to their song with joy, _"Bad news comes don't you worry even when it lands.  
Good news will work its way to all them plans."_

"_We both got fired on exactly the same day.  
Well we'll float on good news is on the way,"_ Mercedes winked at him as she finished her solo line, and Brittany pulled on his arms in an attempt to get him to dace

"_Alright already we'll all float on.  
Alright already we'll all float on.  
Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy.  
We'll all float on...alright. Already we'll all float on.  
Alright already we'll all float on, ok.  
Don't worry we'll all float on.  
Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on._

_Alright already we'll all float on.  
Alright  
Don't you worry we'll all float on.  
Alright  
All float on..."_

Kurt knew he wouldn't just 'float on'. He could _never_ just 'float on'.

Because Kurt hadn't just backed his car into a cop car, he had been in a much, much worse situation, he still felt like maybe he could recover. He felt honored, though, to have all of these people here to sing to him in his time of need, to make him feel _needed _even when he was needing. Two years ago he would have had his dad and Marc Jacobs clothing to comfort him, and here were over ten people worried about him. Caring for him.

"Oh, you guys," And then he flung himself into the arms of the closest person (who happened to be Finn) and Finn didn't even flinch, and neither did Kurt. It was the first time he had really been comfortable touching anyone since _it_ happened and even before _it_ he didn't hug too much.

Soon he was sniffling (not crying, really) and everyone was hugging him and saying it was going to be okay and he believed them.

So, he wouldn't float on, but he would be okay. And he could live with that.

**A/N**

**Think there's still an epilogue to be written, should be up faster than this chapter came up. w00t.**

**THE SONG I DON'T OWN: Float On, by Modest Mouse, and epic Indie Rock band that kicks major ass. I was hesitant to use an indie song, but I think it worked well enough, and I think I can picture the New Directions singing it, so hopefully you liked it too!**

**LOOK IT UP IT'S AMAZING!**

**Please review even if you hate me for taking so long...**

**...or love me because the epilogue will have Klaine JUST LIKE CANON OMG (more brain oozing out of my ears)**


	7. some time later

**Ugly Courage**

_.three months after the last chapter._

_..four months after the riot.._

_...four months and a week since the 'incident'..._

Dalton student.

Warbler.

_Happy._

Three things Kurt had not been until he had transferred to this private academy, this safe haven for the bullied and brilliant. The work was difficult, almost too much to handle on top of a social life and therapy. He wrinkled his nose. Therapy. Richie, his therapist, was great, but it was a freaking long drive to make three times a week.

Still, he had made major progress. Well on his way to returning to normalcy. His flashbacks had stopped a month and a half ago, and his nightmares two weeks after that.

He had friends, _guy_ friends even, he was comfortable being hugged, he had auditioned for the Warblers and made it. _Actually_ made it, too, not just 'oh wow this kid got raped we should let him join our group'.

Finn had been surprisingly supportive. Once, about two and a half months ago, he had a traumatically vivid nightmare and no one had been able to get him to calm down. He was in his dorm at Dalton and had locked the door, with Blaine pounding on it from the outside. Then, Finn burst into the room in his Lady GaGa costume, of all things, and got Kurt to calm down long enough to make rude comments about it's shower-curtainesque appearance.

And Blaine was...amazing. More than amazing. Perfect, even. Kurt was pretty sure that if he was ever able to sleep with _anyone_ it would be Blaine. He knew that because while the thought of fooling around with Blaine didn't necessarily turn him on, it didn't turn him off either. Richie said that this was improvement.

Speaking of Richie, Kurt was sitting in his office right now, talking with his therapist about his grades and how his week had gone.

"I think I have a crush," Kurt confessed, blushing, "Is it weird that I have a crush...you know, so soon? I mean, in movies the girls that are...you know, they're like traumatized for years."

"In the movies the girls wallow in their despair for months before anyone figures it out, the guy who did it isn't caught, their therapist is a pedophile, and then guy they love hits them at least once before they get together," Richie rolled his eyes, then said with disdain, "Or something equally _Hollywood."_

Yeah, one of Richie's downfalls was that he was a total hipster who disapproved of anything that came from Hollywood. He pretty much only watched movies with Joseph Gordon Levitt or Ellen Page in them. Except Inception, which, coincidentally, had both. He still refused it on the grounds that it was 'too mainstream'.

"Anyway, his name is Blaine-"

"How appropriately similar to Blaise."

"Shut up. As I was saying, he's dapper and nice and buys me coffee and sang to me when I had nightmares...I had a dream about kissing him. It wasn't, you know, hardcore making out, but still"

"Sounds awesome," Richie scribbled down some notes on his clipboard, "You should totally go for it."

"You think I'm ready...?"

"That kind of decision isn't up to me, I'm just someone who gets paid to listen to you three hours a week." Kurt gave him a pleading face. "Fine. You seem ready. You said you had a dream about kissing, which is definitely a sign. And you've been talking about this Blaine kid under the pseudonym Blaise for months. From what I gathered, he seems trustworthy. I mean, I talked to your dad and he mentioned that Blaine was 'a nice kid', and coming from Burt that's like being Jesus or something. So, yeah, I think you're ready. But if you're not, then this Blaine guy will back off. If I have my info straight, here."

"Yeah." Kurt thought for a minute, "Yeah, he would."

"Well, there you have it. But if you feel like backing out at all, then back out. Give yourself a comfort zone, and keep inside it."

"Thanks, Richie," Kurt beamed, shaking hands with the young therapist before leaving to return to Dalton.

A few days later, he was in the library studying about King Henry VIII. Whose story was, if you looked passed all the crazy, kind of romantic. A little. Well, going that out of your way to marry someone was cool.

"Hey, Kurt," Blaine sat down next to his friend, peeking over the taller boy's shoulder to read the text, "King Henry?"

"Mmhmm," Kurt took the pen out of his mouth, flashing a grin at Blaine, "Are you here to distract me?"

"Unfortunately, no," Blaine sighed melodramatically, "I have French homework to do."

"I thought you took Italian?"

"I switched to French 2 for the second half of the year. I thought I'd be able to keep up, but the last time I took French was in middle school and I don't remember shit..."

"Well, you've come to the right person," The countertenor pulled out his French conversational book, flashing it proudly, "I'm fluent."

Blaine's eyes widened and his face twisted into a pout, "Teach me, oh wise one? Say something in French?"

Kurt stared at Blaine's pleading expression as his heart pounded wildly, as it did whenever Blaine pulled _that _face.

"_Je voudrais t'embrasser," _Kurt swallowed deeply, staring at his friend (crush) before coughing and turning a horrible red color. He trained his eyes on a random spot in the textbook in front of him.

"What does that mean?"

"Not telling," With that, Kurt gather his things and flounces out of the room, clinging to the hope that Blaine won't remember what he said and, therefore, won't be able to look it up and translate it. "I can't believe I just said that."

"Said what?" Wes and David appeared out of nowhere, both carrying piles of girls clothing that Kurt eyed warily.

"Nothing," He poked a horrid faux fur jacket with his pointer finger, "What do you need all these...you know what, never mind."

The terrible two shared a glance, before entering the room Kurt had just left and dumping the clothes on an empty chair.

"Hey Blaine, what did Kurt just say to you?"

"Something in French."

"We speak French."

"It was like..._je voudrais...te embarrser_ or something."

David coughed and shared an awkward glance with Wes, "Was it _je voudrais t'embrasser?"_

"Oh, now that you say it, I think it was_._ Why, what does it mean?"

Wes and David dissolved into giggles, and it took a full minute for either of them to be able to squeeze out, "It _means_ Kurt wants to kiss you."

Blaine suddenly went into a coughing fit, shooting out of his seat and rushing from the room with no regard for the things he left behind.

He found Kurt in the junior commons, texting and sitting on a plush couch. He sat down next to the taller boy and bit the inside of his mouth, "So..."

"Yes?"

"_Je voudrais t'embrasser, aussi."_

Kurt dropped his phone to look at him in disbelief.

"Wes and David translated for me."

"Damn them."

"So...can I? _T'embrasser?"_

"It would be _t'embrasse_, actually," Kurt stuttered out, "In this case. And..._oui_."

Then he did. And it made all thoughts of Karofskys and locker rooms fly out of his head, and thoughts of well...he wasn't really thinking much but_ holy shit. _Later Kurt will say that he was thinking about how perfect the moment was, and how _right_ it felt (which it did, but he didn't think of it until long after) but the truth it the only thought in his brain was _holy shit, this is totally awesome._

So, no, it wasn't the most romantic thing ever, and it was sloppy and short and not perfect at all, but it made Kurt feel normal again. Or at least, as normal as a gay teen in Ohio ever could be. Which was a nice change from how he usually felt.

And, when Blaine pulled away and smiled at him with those pretty shining eyes, Kurt couldn't help but smile back. His mind almost wandered back to that moment in the locker room all those months ago, but _fuck that_ Karofsky had messed up enough, he wasn't getting to this too.

Kurt leaned in again, pressing his lips to the ones lingering in front of his face and tugging on Blaine's collar. Karofsky was in prison somewhere in New York, that locker room was at McKinley, and Blaine was...here. So, Kurt focused on what was here. He could deal with those other things later.

**THE END.**

**I hope you liked it.**

**:)**


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